Saturday, June 30, 2007

I do not panic... I do not scream, or hide under the bed or fall into a heap of inconsolable wailing. I sometimes wish I could become that person and let someone else handle the situation (and me!). One of the strongest women I have ever known, told me a story about a time she was traveling in Europe with her young children. Airline connections were fouled up and she had tried all manner of reasonable, polite negotiations, to no avail. She finally just collapsed onto the floor and began to cry. Within moments, airline personnel were consoling her, taking care of the children and (more importantly) getting her travel plans worked out. She knew exactly what she was doing, of course....

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

During a recent road trip, on a long stretch of road constructon, we saw a lot of these 'Uneven Lanes' signs. I remarked that it would make a good book title (don't steal it - I claim it!) ..... we are often cruising along in life, thinking we are in the correct lane, and wham! we are forced to make changes... often with bumps involved.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

This bench is a new addition to Melissa's memory garden at her parents' home. Melissa died in August 2005 at age 32. The word 'died' is difficult to say, even now; but no other phrase seems comfortable either - not 'passed away', 'left this earth', 'lost her battle with cancer'..... none of them should be used in the same sentence as Melissa's name.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Went looking for some serenity this evening... after a not-so-good day; the graceful curve of this tree trunk helped.

But then, this guy began circling a 2-3 block area around my house..... after 30 minutes of fly-overs, I went out to grab a shot.

Came back into my office to find an email from the neighborhood association:

Alert- Our neighborhood was the site of a police chase ending with a wrecked stolen car with two Hispanic males in it. The site of the accident was at the entrance to Forest Hills, damaging grass and bushes. The police have arrested one male, but the other male, around 6 feet tall and wearing a blue shirt is on foot. Police are still looking for him, so keep your doors locked.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Oh how I wish I had known about the Festival of the Photograph held last weekend in Charlottesville, VA....... the opportunity to listen to conversations with Eugene Richards, William Albert Allard and Sally Mann.... enjoying the work of other artists like David Alan Harvey....

the forums where I spend my time aren't telling me anything valuable....

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I usually do the judging for Shutterbugs in the morning... it satisfies my 'check-it-off' compulsion and then I don't have to think about it the rest of the day. This month, I have also been a guest judge at another contest site and I've been doing that right after I finish SB's. So, by this time I have looked at roughly 3500 photographs and I somehow expect to come up wih something fresh and creative for my PaD project.... !!!!!

Starting tomorrow.... I change the order (see Oblique Strategies post) and do the judging AFTER I have finished my personal photography committment. :)

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Today was a day of rest after being out in the extreme heat yesterday.... re-reading some old photography magazines and came across an article by Mike Johnston re: today's photos being discovered/uncovered 1000 years from now. Only those that have been well preserved will survive of course, but who's to say that what survives will be of the best photographic quality? You can preserve crap for 1000 years and then when someone digs it up, they've got 1000 year old crap.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Brandon, defending first base. :) I just like the way this turned out...

Up until the 6th inning, Taylor had been pitching a good game and we were winning 3-1. We only have 7 innings at this level - high school Junior Varsity. Mid-inning, the coach pulled Brandon off 1st base to warm up. I didn't know if he would put him in with the bases loaded, but I hoped that Taylor could get out of the inning without too much damage. I hate to see Brandon come into a game in that situation. By the time we finally got 3 outs, we were losing 3-4. Luckily, their pitcher (Bubba!) was also tiring and we got some hits (Brandon too!) and some runs and managed to reclaim the lead 6-4. Brandon came to the mound in the top of the 7th. He had to be tired (second game of the day) and it was hot - low 90's. He struck out the first batter.... walked the next... the third guy hit into an infield fly-out.. 4th batter struck out! It was a beautiful thing.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Oblique Strategies: A deck of cards... printed with phrases useful for sparking creative and productive thinking, ideas for attacking problems, etc.. I don't own a deck, but you can draw a virtual card on one of the web sites.

"What is the reality of the situation?"

I know the freaking reality of the situation. Next card.

"Look at the order in which you do things." Now we're getting somewhere.. change things up, move things around, out with the same-old-same-old!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Photography (and other things) should come naturally and not be forced. If you're trying too hard to make something work, maybe it's time to move on to something else. This photo came about when I saw my hand reflected in a picture frame; I'm still pleased with how it turned out.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

I have purposely allowed all of my photography magazine subscriptions to expire. After a while, you get so many, there isn't time to read all of them and they accumulate in stacks around the office.... so, I will gradually renew one at a time. The first will be Camera Arts - my favorite! Next, I think will be B&W. I doubt I'll renew any others right away. Black & White Photography is a good one, but I get it a month late and it's all UK!! I do miss Silvershotz... ;)

Monday, June 04, 2007

Black&White Photography has a regular feature on the last page of the magazine, '5 things I can't live without'. Let's see....

Photoshop and the Nik Color FX Suite of filters: I'm counting these as one item. Although recently I was out of town with my laptop, which has neither and I used Picasa and Photoshop Elements to process a few photos and did ok. But for more than a few days' absence, I'd need PS!

IR filters for my Sony: I'm having so much fun with infrared!

Lightdome for my speedlight: Gotta have it - much simpler than a softbox.

Remote trigger: How did I ever get by without one?

Tripod: Although I may not use it all the time, I've got to have it just in case.

And one more item... Cel Phone: Well, it has a camera, so I can upload to my mobile blog! :)

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Every photographer should try some self portraits at some point. I was fortunate enough to have two of mine published in a magazine recently. I said in the accompanying text that it is not my intention to record what I look like on any particular day (nor to replicate a cheapo 'studio' shot, for that matter), but to use my facial features as design elements, creating a new composition from a familiar landscape.

But if the boring, studio look is what you like, go for it! Someone will probably think it's fabulous!

I've written before on how each person brings their own experiences to mind when viewing a photo, so any two people seeing the exact same thing would be unusual. This is a good thing, unless the two pair of eyes must come to agreement on the photo in question. Judging photos is not simple because it involves more than just whether or not the picture appeals to you and has photographic merit; you must also consider the context in which you are selecting the winning entries - the audience for example. Guidelines and precedence have probably been set and these must be taken into consideration.